Audit questions election spending - SantaFeNewMexican.com

A federal audit questions whether the secretary of state's office properly paid more than $6 million in federal election money over three years for a voter education program, including television ads.

The Inspector General's Office of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission found several potential problems with New Mexico's handling of the $19 million in federal money received under the Help America Vote Act.

Much of the audit, which was released Wednesday, focused on nearly $6.3 million spent from 2004 through 2006 on a voter education program when Democrat Rebecca Vigil-Giron was secretary of state and in charge of administering the federal dollars. An Albuquerque advertising company, A. Gutierrez & Associates Inc., received the payments for television, radio and newspaper ads and other work intended to educate New Mexicans about voting issues. Vigil-Giron was featured in some of the ads. The firm also produced a video for training poll workers.